Nobody's Home
by g0ddess f0rever
Summary: What happens when two people with a painful past end up living together?Will their love for each other come back, or will their home be filled with lies and betrayal? Rated M for future references to drugs,sex,and alcohol. Read and Review!
1. Breaking the News

Disclaimer: Lord knows that I wished I owned Degrassi…It'd be awesome. I'd have Aubrey Graham at my command. Sadly, that isn't going to happen….Oh well. My disclaimer is that I don't own anything that has to do with Degrassi, aside from the Season 1 DVD.

* * *

**Chapter 1: Breaking the News**

"Bye Em." Manny said with a smile that quickly faded as she walked into her house. She hated this house.

"How was school?" Her mother asked, greeting with her with a grin. Why was that woman always so damn cheery?

"Like you care."Manny replied, rushing to her room and slamming the door behind her.

Manny's parent had split up during the summer, and she'd taken it really hard. Of course, people though she should've been over it, being that it was December now. The truth was, she felt worse now than ever. Her mom was happy now, but this was mostly due to the fact that she had a new boyfriend. Deep down inside, Manny knew she should've been happy for her, but she knew nothing about the guy. Little did she know all that was about to change.

"Manuella?" Her mom knocked on the door." May I come in?"

"Care."Manny sat down on the bed, waiting to get yelled at.

"We need to talk." Her mother said in a serious tone.

"About?" Manny asked, trying to figure out why she was being so nice.

"The man I've been dating. He wants to meet you." Manny rolled her eyes. He wanted to meet her, which meant the relationship was getting serious. "Give him a chance. Besides, you already know him. "Manny was surprised at the thought of this.

"Who is he?" She asked, thinking of possible candidates. _Not the guy with the mole from the grocery store, that mole would distract me. It's such a huge mole. It's right there on the-_

"Joey Jeremiah." Her mom smiled. "He has a son your age, Craig." Manny just sat there, hoping she was doing a good job at suppressing the shocked look that was forming on her face.

"I know him." She replied.

"Are you two friends? "Her mother asked. It was obvious that she really liked Joey.

"We have history, but I wouldn't call us friends. Acquaintances is a better word for it." She said with a weak smile. _He got me pregnant, then left me, then got back with his ex-girlfriend. Yeah, we're the best of friends._

"Well, the reason I'm telling you all this is because Joey's really looking forward to meeting you at dinner Saturday." Her mom told her.

"Next Saturday, right?" Manny asked. Her mom was silent and looked down. "But this was supposed to be my weekend with dad!" She was pissed. Her mom knew how much she valued these weekends with her father.

"I know." Maria watched as her daughter stood up. "Where are you going?" She asked.

"Out." Manny replied, leaving the house.

* * *

"But what about Caitlyn." Craig asked. Joey had just told him that he was dating someone else. Someone that wasn't Caitlyn.

"Listen, Craig, Caitlyn and I love each other, we're just not in love with each other. You don't understand." Joey replied.

"Whatever." Craig said, upset. Caitlyn had been like a mother to him, and to find out she wasn't going to be there anymore hurt.

"At least give her a chance. That's all I'm asking. I'm having with her and her daughter this Saturday. We'd like it if you came." Joey told him.

"She has a daughter? Great, another kid for me to baby-sit." Craig replied with obvious sarcasm in his voice as he rolled his eyes.

"Actually Craig, her daughter's old enough to take care of herself. She goes to Degrassi, a Grade 11."Joey retorted, feeling like he'd won that part of the argument.

"Who are they?" Craig asked, suddenly caring.

"Maria is the woman I've been seeing. Her daughter's mane is Manuella. They call her Manny. I'm sure you know her, she's Emma best friend…You guys danced at the wedding." Joey said with a smile.

"Manny? You're dating Manny's mom?" Craig asked. _Great, just great. I'm having dinner with the girl I got pregnant and her mother. Well, maybe, her mother doesn't know it was me who got her pregnant. She can't know, she would've said something to Joey….This is unreal. This can't be happening….Don't let this be happening._

"Do you know Manny? I mean, do you two talk." Joey asked.

"We haven't talked in a while." Craig replied, standing up to leave. _What was it I said to her? Right, I called her the biggest mistake I'd made since coming here….That was great. But that wasn't me that was bi-polar Craig, right?_

"Oh. Listen Craig, I know this news sucks, but it'd really mean a lot to me if you came to dinner on Saturday." Joey said with a hopeful smile.

"Fine." Craig sighed. "Dinner on Saturday. Can I go now?" Craig asked. Joey nodded and he rushed out the house.


	2. A Family Dinner

Disclaimer: I know, this sucks…I still don't own anything from Degrassi. I've been trying, honestly LOL

**Update:** Here's what's going on in my story for those of you who don't know. Manny and Craig have just found out that their parents have been dating each other, and both are being forced to attend dinner Saturday. So, here's the rest of my wonderful story LOL,

**Nobody's Home**

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**Chapter 2: Family Dinner**

"Tonight's the night." Manny spoke into the mirror as Emma brushed her hair.

"Manny, just relax and be happy for your mom." Emma replied, digging through some makeup and pulling out a light blue eye shadow.

"Easy for you to say Em. You're not having dinner with the guy that got you pregnant." Manny said, turning to face her. She closed her eyes as Emma applied the eyeshadow.

"Talk to your mom about it." Emma suggested, adding a few finishing touches to Manny's makeup.

"I can't." Manny sighed, looking at herself in the mirror. "She's just so happy. Maybe they'll break up on their own." She said, knowing that that was just a wish. All her mom had talked about was Joey this, Joey that.

"For yours and Craig's sake, you'd better hope so." Emma replied. "I'm getting better at this makeup thing." She said with a laugh.

"Manuella, time to go!" Her mom called from the living room.

"Good luck." Emma gave her a quick hug and hurried out of the house, not wanting to witness the obvious tension between Mann and her mother.

"I'll need more than that." She muttered, looking at herself in the mirror. Her hair was in curls and lying gently over her shoulders, some flowing down her back. Her makeup was perfect, thanks to Emma. She really did look gorgeous.

* * *

"Hi." Joey said, giving Manny's mother a kiss. "Hey Manny." He said, giving her a smile.

"Hi." She replied, obviously pissed off. She rolled her eyes as Craig sat down across from her. _Just what I need, Craig, sitting right across from me. Now I'll be forced to look into his eyes at least once. At least I'm on the outside. Good for a quick escape._

"So, how's school?" Joey asked as they ate.

"Good." Craig looked up, trying to at least get a glance from Manny.

"Fine." Manny replied, prodding at her food as she studied it. Anything to avoid looking at Craig.

"Manuella, eat something." Her mother told her.

"Not hungry." She retorted.

"Fine, suit yourself." Maria sighed, not in the mood for arguing. She picked up her glass, taking a sip of her drink. It was then that Manny caught sight of the ring on her finger.

"What's that?" She asked.

"What?" Maria followed Manny's eyes. "Oh, this. It's an…engagement ring." It was Craig's turn to choke. He started coughing.

"You're marrying him! Dad's been gone a few months, and you're marrying him. This is why you wanted me to come to dinner, so I could meet my new father! Get used to my new family! There's no way I'm staying with them. I'll go live with dad. That's why he left you! You're a slut!" She was angry and sad at the same time. Hot tears were rolling down her face, but she didn't care. She didn't care if she was making a scene. She didn't care about the nosy people in the restaurant. None of that mattered.

"Manny, that's not fair!" Joey raised his voice at her.

"You're not my father." She spat back, standing up to leave.

"Manny, calm down." Craig, said, grabbing her by the arm. Manny in turn picked up her glass of water and threw it in his face, soaking him and running out of the restaurant.

"Craig, I'm so sorry. I don't know what's gotten into her." Maria replied, near tears.

"It's fine, honestly." Craig replied, wiping his shirt off with a napkin. "Joey, I'm going to go home and dry off." Craig said, grabbing his and Manny's jacket as he walked out.

* * *

It hadn't taken him long to find Manny. She was walking past Degrassi, on her way to what he assumed was her father's house.

"Cold?" He asked.

"Leave me alone Craig." She replied, trying not to shiver. She was freezing.

"No can do." Craig handed her the jacket. "Our parents are getting married." He sighed as she cut him an evil look. "As much as it sucks, we're going to have to get along."

"I might move in with my dad." She stared down at her feet. "I know it's going to hurt my mom, but I just can't stay….there."

"You're right. It will hurt your mom, a lot. But it doesn't matter because you don't give a damn about anyone but Manny!" He noted the shock on her face. "Every time something gets hard, you get rid of it. Eliminate the problem. You seem to think that will make it go away. First the baby —" He was interrupted by her slapping him across the face.

"Craig, you have no right to talk to me like that. I hope you burn in hell!" She screamed, tears stinging her eyes. She refused to let them fall; she wouldn't let Craig make her cry. She turned away from him and ran as fast as fast as her feet could carry her.


	3. A Second Opinion

**Reviewers: **I 333 you both. Your two awesome reviews keep me going LOL….But anyhoo, onto all that important jazz.

**Disclaimer:** I just got my T-Shirt in the mail that I won from Degrassi.tv…So now I can claim two things: My DVD and My T-Shirt…Aside from that, nothing else.

**Update**: I'm not summarizing this story right now because I'm not in the mood….Who starts a story in the 3rd chapter anyways? I need a good subplot people…Anyone got suggestions, include them in your reviews. Back to my story…

**Nobody's Home**

Manny stood in the corridor of Sunset Apartments. For some reason, she hesitated before buzzing for her father. There was no need for her to worry; he told her she could come there whenever she wanted to. She even had her own room there, a duplicate of the one at her mom's. She pushed the buzzer, apartment 3B, Martin Santos.

"Yello." Her father's voice came through the speaker.

"Daddy. It's me." She said as she spoke into the little box on the wall.

The only response she received was the loud buzzer signaling that the main door was unlocked. She grew impatient with the elevator, so she sprinted up 3 flights of stairs. Her father was waiting by his door for her, and she embraced him, letting the tears she'd tried so hard to fight back fall.

"What's the emergency? Is it Ash?" Ellie asked, out of breath from running all the way to the train tracks.

"Joey's getting married." Craig replied, staring up into the stars.

"That's great! Caitlyn's coming back. You think she'll give my back my co-op job?" Ellie let her mind wander.

"Caitlyn isn't coming back. Joey's marrying Maria Santos, as in Manny Santos, as in my Manny." He said with a sigh.

"Wow." Ellie was speechless? _Your Manny?_ "Does Ashley know?" She asked, already knowing what the answer was. "Tell her Craig, before she finds out some other way."

"I know, I know, and I will. But, here's the thing. I'm going to be living with Manny, right? I want to at least be her friend." He looked over at Ellie, who was rolling her eyes. "El, she's not a bad person."

"Craig, she seduced you, knowing you had a girlfriend." Ellie replied.

"Yeah, I know that…It wasn't really seduction…This isn't helping. I'm going to shut up now." Craig said with a nervous laugh. "But here's the thing. Manny freaked, I mean really freaked when she found out our parents were getting married. She screamed at her mom, threw water on me, and then left."

"Sounds a little juvenile to me." Ellie said, raising an eyebrow.

"Shut up Eleanor." Craig told her, continuing his story. "She decides she wants to live with her dad. You know what I tell her? Every time there's a problem, she gets rid of it And my wonderful example? The baby she aborted." Ellie looked shocked.

"I hate Manny, and I found that to be overly harsh. I would've slapped you so hard." She told him.

"Trust me, she did." He said, rubbing his cheek. It still stung a little. "But that didn't get to me. What really got to me El was the look on her face. I mean, she was hurt. I feel like Satan's spawn." He laid back on the ground.

"Well, you'd better figure something out quickly. You have to live with this girl." Ellie replied.

"And now they're getting married. I feel bad for everything I said to mom, but… I don't know what to do." Manny said, taking a sip of her hot chocolate.

"Okay, I'll tell you what…We'll sort this out tomorrow. I mean, you can stay here tonight, but I really think that you need to live with your mom and her, uh, Joey..." Martin told her.

"But dad, I want to live here. I don't want to stay in that house. It's going to be crowded. Me, mom, Joey, Angie, Craig…That's five people…It's a lot." She said, trying to persuade him to let her stay.

"Manuella, we'll talk about this tomorrow, okay? I got the wireless internet hooked up to your laptop in the room so you're all set." He said, kissing her forehead. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight." She said, standing up and going into her bedroom. She turned on the laptop and got on AIM.

**Sparklespaz:** howd it go

**Smileygurl:** hi 2 u 2 em

**Sparklespaz:** hey many…howd it go lol

**Smileygurl:** horrible…shes MARRYING joey

**Sparklespaz:** wow…whatd craig say

**Smileygurl:** i dont know…i kind of splashed water in his face and left…but he did bring

up my abortion in a jerky asshole sort of way

**Sparlespaz:** So your mom knows about him?

**Smileygurl:** no…look...call me on my dads number and ill give you the details

**Sparklespaz:** ur dads…ok

**Smileygurl:** ill be waiting

**Auto response from Sparklespaz:** on the fone with la bella manuella…bbmmmml

Manny laughed and picked up the ringing phone.

"Spill." Emma said with a laugh.

"Okay. So we get there…" Manny then proceeded to tell her the whole story.


End file.
